Episode 31: United Nations Plaza

On this episode of B-Side, United Nations Plaza…and the question, what makes a public space fail?

In the center of San Francisco there’s a plaza with no benches and a fountain with a fence around it. It’s a place that most people cross the street to avoid; it’s overrun with homelessness and drug activity. But it was designed with the best of intentions, so what went wrong? Is there a point where good intentions and idealism become so removed from reality they actually border on negligence? Producer Ben Temchine tries to answer those questions.. Originally aired in July of 2004.